L120 - Rebuilding the Deck Spindles - I have a Couple of Questions

[kailor]

My L120 has a 48" deck with three spindles. I ordered new bearings and all bearings are sealed on both sides. Do I need to grease these spindles either before or after installing them? Thanks in advance.

 

[bertsmobile1]

My L120 has a 48" deck with three spindles. I ordered new bearings and all bearings are sealed on both sides. Do I need to grease these spindles either before or after installing them? Thanks in advance.

A "sealed" bearing is not an air & fluid tight seal it is just a dust seal to keep debris out and the grease in.
If water is left sitting on top of a hot sealed bearing then as it cools down & the air contracts the water on top will get sucked into the bearing and emulsify the grease the next time it is run.
This is one reason why decks should be blown down & not washed.
Grease in the space between the bearings will do nothing to lubricate the bearings, but if th e space is filled with grease, you will not get condensation and thus water in there to do the above.

Now it is up to you.

On commercial mowers the bearings go in with a bottom seal only then the housing filled with grease till it comes out the top bearing then I replace the top outer seal.
On good quality mowers there will be a zerk to put the grease in and a vent to let the air out .

ON your mower I just put the bottom bearing on the shaft, grease the shaft then insert it into the housing, pop the top bearing in and replace the pulley.

What you do will be up to you.
Some will swear by filling the void with grease and popping the inside seals
Some will swear by running them both seals & no extra grease.

In practice on residentials I have seen no difference and as the bearings run to about the same price as a blade down here, they get replaced at about 3 to 5 year intervals.
Housing in deck, it is about 10 minutes a spindle depending upon how difficult it is to get the lower bearing off the spindle.